Lamp



2 sheets-sheet 1 ug. 2, 1938. J. T. RENHOLDT LAMP Filed sept. 9, i936 Aug. 2, 1938. J. T. RENHOLDT LAMP Filed Sept. 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR if Patented Aug. 2, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to lamps, and, more particularly, to lamps of the kind employed indoors, as in'homes, oiiices, hotels, clubs and the like, and in locations where the lamp: should have utility 5 not only as a locally placed illuminating device,

but also as a decorative unit at its location.

According to the invention a lampis provided having a lamp-base a portion of which is transparent, and wherein a removable and replaceli) able three-dimensional ornament is enclosed preferably in a dust-type manner, this ornament being so positioned inside the lamp-base relative to the transparent portion thereof and relative to the usual angle of vision that, at least when the 35 lamp is lighted, the ornament is seen through said transparent portion and cooperates with the other then visible parts of the lamp to provide a novel and valuable ensemble.

Further, according to the invention, as preferably carried out, in order' to facilitate ready substitution of one ornament for another whenever desired the lamp-base is so made that ready access to the hollow interior thereof can be had; and to this end the lamp-base is conveniently made so as to be facilely separable between its aforesaid lower and upper parts, desirably at a horizontal plane substantially marking the bottom of the said upper part and the top of said lower part.

An object of the invention is to provide in a lamp as above the combination of a transparent Wall or portion at the upper part of the lampbase, a light-source means above the lamp-base, and a reflector above the means last mentioned for converging or directing light rays from said 35 source downwardly through said wall into the interior of the lamp-base so as to intensify the illumination of the ornament and its support with- Vin the lamp-base.

Other advantages and features will hereinafter 40 appear.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, illustrating a now preferred embodiment of the table lamp pursuant to the invention.

Fig.' 2 is an axial vertical section, with certainl parts shown in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View in vertical section, onan enlarged scale, showing a detail of construction.

Fig. 4 is a similar view, showing another detail of construction.

Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section, taken axially throughV the lower part of the lamp-base of a table lamp, illustrating a modification.

,- Fig. 6 is a fragmentary View in vertical section,

on an enlarged scale, showing a further modification.

Fig. 'l is a View similar to Fig. 1, illustrating a now preferred embodiment of floor lamp pursuant to the invention.

(Cl. 240--2l Fig. Sis a fragmentary view, partially in axial section, on an enlarged scale, showing a detail of construction of the lamp of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 8, showing another detail of construction of the lamp last mentioned.

Fig. l is a View, partially in vertical section and partially in elevation, showing the lamp of Fig. 1, but on a much reduced scale, and illustrating another way of varying, interiorly of the lamp, an ornamental element thereof and located therein.

Referring first to the exemplifying form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, and particularly now to Figs. 1 and 2, a lamp-base Ill for a table lamp is shown as including a lower part or section I I, and an upper part or section I2.

As this lamp is here shown, the same further includes a carrier above the top of the lamp-base for mounting in the usual way an electric light bulb I3, such carrier being illustrated as a familiar type of socket I4 for said bulb, adapted to be placed in a suitable circuit by wires in a cable I and having a standard push-type switch I4 for opening and closing said circuit; a lamp-shade I6; and a common type of spring-wire clamp I'I for gripping the bulb I3, such clamp being fixed to and hung below an ordinary nial I8 attached in the customary way to the usual skeleton frame I9 on which a lamp-shade is in most cases supported.

The lower section II of the lamp-base is shown as comprising two principal parts; a hollow footpedestal 20, and a bowl-like hollow element 2i these parts and 2I here combining to provide a generally pear-shaped main body for the lampbase. It will, of course, be understood that the main body of the lamp-base can be of any suitable or desired shape, and either wholly or partially exteriorly embellished as taste may dictate.

The parts 20 and 2I, here as just explained constituting the main body of the lamp-base, are connected permanently into one structure by a vertical bushing or sleeve 22 extended down through a pair of matching apertures, one in the bottom of the hollow element 2I (said element being hereinafter for convenience called the cup), and the other as a vertical bore in the central neck portion 20 of the pedestal. This sleeve 22 has a top external ange 22', and it is at its bottom externally threaded as shown, so as to be able to take, inside the hollow within the pedestal, a washer 23, and a clamp nut 24.

The upper section of the lamp-base is shown as in the form of an inverted glass bowl or dome, so that the upper -section of the lamp-base is transparent all around and also all over the top of the same, and the ornament of a type depending upon the hobby of the owner, here illustrated as tworacing yachts l25, forms part of the complete visible lamp assembly, whether observed from above or from any off side angle.

In order when the bulb I3 is lighted to increase the sharpness of the illumination of the ornament 25, as well also as that of its support 26, a suitable reflector is desirably placed over the bulb. Such reflector is here shown as a polished metal downwardly dished disk 2l arranged as shown,

and suitably secured to the shade frame I9.

The dome constituting the upper section I2 of the lamp-base can be of clear or tinted glass or other suitable transparent material; and where any effect to be obtained is desired., such dome can advantageously be made cloudily instead of clearly transparent, or mottled with portions of less clear transparency than other portions.

The support 26 is shown as a platform, the upper surface of which is contoured to represent a waVe-rippled sea.' In the present case, the ornament 25 is shown as being integrally formed, desirably by casting, with the support or platform 26.

In order to substitute another and different ornament and support, the dome and cup components II and I2 of the lamp-base shown are separable in a horizontal plane substantially coincident with the bottom rim of the dome and the top rim of the cup, on removal of a metal ring or ferrule 28, desirably spun from thin sheet metal.

Referring in this connection to Figs. 2 and 3,

said ferrule is shown as of L-shaped cross-section, having a bottom flange 28a, provided at its upper end with an internal thread 28h, the cup II has an external horizontal flange IIa, and the dome I2 has a similar flange I2a. Around the flange I2 is a ring 2Q of comparatively soft material, desirably such a flexible and relatively plastic metal as lead, and of channel cross-section. This ring can be cast about the flange I2a as shown, or supplied as a strip of lead of U-section of proper length bent around and then forced tightly over, under and below the flange I2 as illustrated. When either of these two ways of providing the ring 29 or an equivalent is adopted, there is no need to form the thread'shown on the same, by a specialk operation. Such thread will be formed when the lamp-base is first assembled; that is, after all part-s except the ferrule 29 are assembled as ,illustrated in Fig. 3, by screwing on the ferrule,

such operation forming the thread on' the ring. Once the lamp is thus assembled, the ferrule can be removed 'by unscrewing it, and then the dome I2 and cup I i can be readily parted by lifting the dome up and away from the cup.

On thus removing the dome I2 from the cup I I, the platform 26 and the ornament 25 can be readily removed. As shown most clearly in, Fig. `2, the platform,- which is extended so as completely to cover and hide the interior of the cup, so that the latter can be left rough and unfinished, rests marginally on an annular ledge IIb provided inside the cup just below the flange II a. In the present case, however, said platform is securely and positively locked in place, yet readilyV releasably so, as shown in Fig. 2, by a bolt 30. This bolt, with its kerfed head 30 lowermost, is sent upward through the bore of sleeve 22 and the hollow interior of cup 2l, and, with its thread engaged with the thread of a tapped recess in a central borey 2,6' extended below the bottoni surface of platform 26, is turnedto draw the platform down tightly on ledge I Ib.

As shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, all parts of the lamp above the lamp-base I I are supported on the dome I2, directly or indirectly, by means of portion depends as a substantially cylindrical flange. When such a fltment is provided, and the dome I2 is of glass or other easily moldable material, the same can conveniently be provi-ded with an integral, circular, and cir'cnlarly undercut, pad IZb as shown; whereby, on application of the tment 3l to the pad so that the ange of the fitment encloses the pad, an ordinary metal spinning' operation curls this flange laterally inward and shapes the same in conformity with the side wall of the pad, thereby quickly and simply to lock the fitment and the dome I2 permanently together. rIhe provision of the pad I2b on the dome I2, incidentally, is advantageous when such dome is of glass, as giving a strong instead of the usual weak spot at the center of depth of the hollow of the dome.

Referring to Fig. 5, the modification .there shown includes a dome I2a ferrule 22, a ring 29, all as in Figs. 1 to Ll; also, a cup II, as in the views just mentioned, except that such cup has a 1 smaller aperture in its bottom than that through which the sleeve 22 extends in Fig. and a pedestal 2i] as in Figs. l and 2, except that such pedestal has in its upstanding central neck an aperture similar in diameter to that of the aperture in the bottom of the cup Ii of Fig. 5. y

The pedestal and the cup of Fig. 5, by means of the apertures just mentioned, are permanently secured together, as shown, by parts including a screw 32. This screw passes through a washer 33 and a block 34; such washer conveniently of some highly flexible or plastic material, as brass or lead, and such block conveniently of wood.

In Fig. 5, as in Fig. 2, the support is shown as a platform of circular outline, shaped to lie on the ledge I I bof the cup I I, and so cover over the hollow interi-cr ofthe cup. This platform, marked 35, is Vhere shown as locked against horizontal shifting, once it is set on the ledge I Ib, by means of the upper ends of a plurality of pins 35 set in and upstanding above the top of block 3d, which pin ends are received in accommodating recesses in the underside of the platform as illustrated. The ornament, such as the one a basal portion of which is indicated at 3?, is here shown as readily separable from the platform 35, and is resting thereon by its own weight, but held against shifting by a pin 3l" upstanding from the top of the platform and received in a suitable recess in the bottom of the ornament.

Referring next to Fig. 6, the parts having the same reference characters as parts in Figs. 2 and 3, correspond to the latter and can be identical in construction thereto. However, the support here shown, while in the form of a circular platform, is of a diameter exceeding that of the maximum diameter of the cup II; and this platform rests marginally on the flat top of flange IIa.. Therefore, the platform is securely locked in place on this flange when the ferrule 28 is screwed up tight to assemble the lamp by clamping together the upper and lowerl sections of the lamp-base, after a selected ornament or ay selected ornament support, or both, have been substituted for a similar element or elements previously in the 75 lamp-base. The locking of the platform in place, it will be understood, is accomplished by the gripping of the marginal portion thereof between the bottom of ring 29 and the top of flange l la, which gripping results from properly tightening the ferrule 28.

Figs. '7, 8 and 9 illustrate one now favored way to apply the invention in making a floor lamp. Such lamp as shown includes an electric light bulb 38, a shade 39, a reflector 40, a socket 4l, and a lamp-base 42 below such socket,-all these parts, in order to shorten this description, being shown as exact or substantial duplicates of the corresponding parts in Figs. 1 and 2. The lampbase 42, which in this type of lamp is carried at the top of a post or standard, such as the one indicated at 43, is, at the bottom of the lower section or cup 44 thereof (corresponding to the cup Il of Figs. 1 and 2), secured to a cap 45, as most clearly shown in Fig. 9, by a sleeve 22, a washer 23, a nut 24, and a bolt 30, all as in Figs. 1 and 2; so that as shown in these last-mentioned views, the upper threaded end of this bolt can be threaded-into and hold in place a platform or other suitable support (not shown) for the desired ornament, as, for instance, the ornament 46 of Fig. 7.

The cap 45 serves as a ready-break-joint connector between the bottom of the lamp-base 42 and the top of the post 43, so as to permit the bottom of the lamp-base to be disconnected from the top of the post and thus allow the head of the bolt 30 to be reached. Then such bolt can be unscrewed, to permit changing of the ornament support, and/or the ornament in the lamp-base, when such change of ornament or ornament support is desired, and when the construction is such, as here assumed, that the bolt is threaded into the ornament support to hold the same in place in the lamp-base as in Fig. 2. As will be noted, the cup 45 has a depending Vertical flange which is internally threaded; this thread taking an external thread in the enlarged upper end of the post 43.

It is customary in oor lamps to have the electric light bulb higher above the lamp-base than in a table lamp, and the lamp of Fig. 9 is shown as so constructed. As best seen in Fig. 8, the disk 46, spun on the pad 12b of the dome I2, is exactly like the disk 3| of Fig. 2 except that the central upstanding neck of the disk 46 is of larger diameter than the neck of the disk 3|, so that the external thread on the formed neck matches an internal thread carried by a tube 41. This tube is of a length to elevate the bulb 38 to' the proper extent above the lamp-base 42; the neck 14a which depends from the socket I4 being threadedly connected to a central upstanding neck on a cap 48 having a depending internally threaded flange, which thread matches an external thread on the top of the tube.

Finally referring to Fig. 10, showing again the table lamp of Figs. 1 and 2, there is here illustrated another type of replaceable ornament, other than a statuette or the like. Such ornament is shown as being an interior mask for the lamp-base, in the present case in the shape of an inverted bowl or dome, 49, desirably uniformly or variegatedly colored. Such mask can be used yin addition to, or in lieu of some other ornament,

say a statuette, the latter placed under the mask and on the platform 26 or an equivalent. The mask 49 is shown here as stilened at its bottom rim by a ring 50, conveniently of wire; and then, although the mask would be self-sustaining without the ring if made of Celluloid or Cellophane or some other relatively stiff transparent or translucent material, the mask can conveniently be made of a suitable textile fabric. Thus one mask 49 can be substituted for another, behind the transparent wall of a lamp-base section carrying that wall, to change the appearance of the lamp at that section, as to give it a different color or pattern of design. 'I'he color or design imparted by the mask could be made more striking by light rays received interiorly of the lamp-base, and such reception of these rays could be provided for by cutting openings, for instance as indicated at 49', through the mask; and this effect would be intensified by employing a reflector over the lightsource means of the lamp according to the invention.

Variations and modications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. In a lamp, the combination of a light source and a base structure comprising an opaque lower section and an inverted transparent glass bowl mounted with its open end in engagement with the lower section and provided at its closed upper end with means formed integrally therewith whereby the light source can be mounted thereon; means for securing the lower section and the bowl together at their point of engagement; and an ornament mounted on a plate in the lower section with the ornament extending into the transparent bowl, said bowl being formed as a unitary structure.

2. In a lamp, the combination of a light source and a base structure comprising an opaque lower section and an inverted glass bowl mounted with its open end in engagement with the lower section and provided at its closed upper end with a thickened projecting portion whereby the light source can be mounted thereon; and means for securing the lower section and the bowl together at their point of engagement.

3. In a lamp, the combination of a light source and a base structure comprising an opaque lower section and an inverted glass bowl mounted with its open end in engagement with a lower section and provided at its closed end with means for mounting the light source thereon; means for securing the lower section and the bowl together at their point of engagement; and an ornament mounted on a plate secured in the base with the ornament extending into the transparent bowl, the seeming means comprising a bolt passing through the base and threaded into the undersurface of the plate.

4. In a lamp, the combination of a light source and a base structure comprising an opaque lower section having an outwardly extending ange at its upper end and an inverted transparent glass bowl having an outwardly extending flange at its open end and mounted with its open end in engagement with the lower section and provided at its closed end with means for mounting the light source thereon; means for securing the lower section and the bowl together at their point of engagement comprising means to engage the flanges on the bowl and lower section to hold them in clamping relation; and an ornament mounted on a plate extending across the upper end of the lower section and clamped between the flanges of the bowl and lower section to be held in place by said securing means.

JOHN T. RENHOLDT. 

